Whats in a name: Revisting the Anthropocene

Whats in a name: Revisting the Anthropocene

The effect of global change on organisms




Are human impacts like a hammer and biological systems a nail?



What are the problems with this analogy? (brainstorm with a partner)

The effect of global change on organisms



  • Hammer strikes have different characteristics
    • Global change stressors can vary in magnitude, velocity, etc.


  • Nails have different characteristics
    • Organisms vary in their vulnerability to global change stressors


  • Also… the nail can influence the hammer
    • Living things can respond to global change stressors and affect the entire system

The effect of global change on organisms


Organisms have different elements of “vulnerability”


The degree to which a system is susceptible to adverse effects of global change is a function of:


  • Exposure: The character, magnitude and rate of a perturbation
    • How hard & fast does the hammer hit?


  • Sensitivity: Degree the system changes from a given perturbation
    • Is the nail fragile or robust?


  • Response: Ability of a system to respond from perturbation
    • Can the nail bounce back?

The effect of global change on organisms

So organismal responses are critically important–
Organisms affect their own fate and also the dynamics of biotic systems as a whole

Humans now dominate and modify the planetary system



  • As human populations continue to rise, so do the pressures placed in natural systems


  • How do biological systems respond to human impacts on planet Earth?


  • Confronted with a changing world, what can organisms do?


  • What we will consider in Unit II is: WHAT IS POSSIBLE?

The "Adjacent Possible’ Theory - Stuart Kauffman


  • Theory proposes that biological systems are able to morph into more complex systems by making incremental, relatively less energy consuming changes in their make up
    • small steps rather than extreme jumps or more distant possibilities


  • Kauffman was particularly interested in the origins of order and the mechanisms that drive self-organization, via evolution
    • how the actual expands into the adjacent possible

The "Adjacent Possible’ theory - Stuart Kauffman


How the actual expands into the adjacent possible




  • The actual describes the system in its current state, with all its components and interconnections


  • The adjacent possible contains the set of possibilities available to individuals, communities, institutions, organisms, productive processes, etc., at a given point in time during their evolutions

The adjacent possible for other species


If environmental conditions are changing… what are the adjacent possible options for survival?


In physical space -> move


In physiological / behavioral space -> adjust


In genetic / adaptive space -> adapt


If no adjacent possible -> die


Responses are not mutually exclusive

The adjacent possible for other species



If environmental conditions are changing…
what are the adjacent possible options for survival?




  • What determines the adjacent possible?
    • Organisms traits
      • developmental, physical, behavioral
    • Environmental features
    • Dynamics of change

Organismal response to global change




  • Responses can occur at nested levels:
    • individuals

Organismal response to global change




  • Responses can occur at nested levels:
    • individuals
    • populations
    • metapopulations
    • species
    • communities
    • ecosystems
    • biomes

Core Response: Move (Chapter 5)

Move: movement of individuals (dispersal, migration), populations or species (range changes)
QUESTION: How would you categorize different types of movement?

The adjacent possible for the move response

The adjacent possible for the move response






100 years from now where could species survive and how could it get there?


Can it disperse far enough fast enough over a fragmented landscape?


What is the role of the interaction with species and the environment?